May 1998

Cycling
through artichoke fields near St. Pol de Leon, Brittany

Roscoff,
Brittany, France May 29, 1998 Summer half
term, the kids on holiday, and our now annual cycling and camping
trip to Brittany: there is nothing finer, we assert, than loading
up the bikes, leaving the car behind at the Plymouth docks, and cycling
on to, then six hours later, off of the ferry in Northern France,
totally self-contained, with little fixed plans, the world literally
our oyster. This year my sister Michele flew over from Cambridge,
MA to join us; scarcely had she stepped off the plane and made her
way down to Devon, then she was on a bike, loaded with heavy panniers,
tent, sleeping bags. Guy carried packs for the first time, while I
trailed Bella (and half the contents of our house) behind me in the
Burley trailer; Kim and her bike, meanwhile, were loaded down like
a Third World cart mule.

Cycling
(very slowly) along quiet rural lanes and through fields of magnificent
globe artichokes, then down to Penzé and along the deep, muddy
estuary to Morlaix, this is little visited but truly magnificent country
to explore at leisure. The camping was excellent, and we enjoyed both
simple meals (our favourite is lentilles au petit salé,no
more than supermarket-purchased tinned lentils with chunks of smoked
ham, prepared on the camp stove, and attacked with crusty baguettes
washed down with plenty of red wine -- truly unbeatable) as well as
some real fish and shellfish blow-outs at restaurants encountered
along the way. Worth recommending are Aux Delices de la Mer in Carantec
for stylishly prepared seafood with a regional accent, and the wholly
traditional old favourite Les Chardons Bleus in Roscoff.

Our plan,
at the end of the trip, was to pick up five globe artichokes at the
alimentaire in Roscoff (as we have often done before) the night
prior to boarding the early morning return ferry, but unfortunately,
the shop had -- quel horreur -- sold out what they had that morning
gathered from their garden, and it opened too late the next day for
us to procure this unique and wonderful vegetable to take home and prepare
ourselves, a deep disappointment given that we had been looking at artichokes
for the better part of five days. No matter: on returning to an unseasonably
cold, windy Devon, Michele compensated by preparing for us her famous
black bean soup, incredibly tasty and satisfying after days lived outdoors,
carrying heavy weights up the short, sharp, sometimes savage hills of
Brittany ("I'm no weight, I'm your daughter," I hear five-year-old
Bella protest).

Michele's
Famous Black Bean Soup

Black
beans are essential for this delicious one-pot meal; they come from
China, and should be available from good health food shops, where
they may be sold as black turtle beans. Neither black kidney beans
nor black soy beans are acceptable substitutes. Black beans don't
need to be soaked prior to cooking, but they will take about 3-4 hours
on a low simmer; we prefer to pre-cook them for about a half hour
in a pressure cooker. Though Michele calls this dish a 'soup' it is
really in consistency more of a bean casserole, delicious served with
the toppings over shortgrain organic brown rice.

1 lb
dried black beans

3 tablespoons
olive oil

About
8 large carrots, peeled and diced

2 large
onions, peeled and chopped

6 stalks
of celery, diced

4-6 cloves
of garlic, peeled, crushed and coarsley chopped

2 bay
leaves

2 tablespoons
tomato paste

1 tablspoon
dried thyme

3 tablespoons
cumin powder

Cayenne
pepper to taste

Juice
of 5-6 limes

5 vegetable
stock cubes (best quality)

Salt
and freshly ground pepper

Large
handful of cilantro (coriander), finely chopped

For
the topping

Another
handful of freshly chopped cilantro

About
6 sliced green onions

Sour
cream

Grated
cheddar cheese

Pickled
jalapeño chillies to taste

If using
the pressure cooker, add the washed black beans, cover with water
and cook for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile gently sauté the chopped
onions, celery, garlic and carrots in the olive oil. When the vegetables
are wilted but not browned, add the tomato paste, thyme, bay leaves,
cayenne and cumin. Stir and continue to cook for a further five or
ten minutes. If you have pre-cooked the beans, add them now to the
vegetables together with their cooking liquid. If you are not pre-cooking
the beans, add the washed beans to the pot and cover with water. Crumble
in the vegetable stock cubes, bring to the boil, stir and reduce heat
to a low simmer. Cook until the beans are tender (a further hour if
pre-cooked in a pressure cooker or up to 3-4 hours otherwise). Stir
from time to time and add more water if necessary. Add the chopped
cilantro and lime juice about 30 minutes before serving. Season with
salt and black pepper to taste.

Put
the toppings in individual bowls on the table, serve the beans over
organic shortgrain brown rice, and let everyone add whatever they
want.

Wine
suggestion: This delicious beanfeast, with its hot and sour undertones
that come from the lime juice, cilantro and chilli, deserves a vibrant
and zesty white wine: try a Chilean Chardonnay, or a new wave Italian
from Puglia's Salento Peninsula, such as excellent, if weirdly named
and packaged, 'The Original Sin', in its distinctive blue glass bottle
and irreverent crown cork. Alternatively, serve with Mexican lager
with a wedge of lime.